Print Matters - Gateways

We've got more zine goodness for you this week in our Print Matters feature - this time from Brendan Mulrooney and his first printed piece 'Gateways', shot over four years throughout the east coast of the US. We caught up with Brendan to find out more.

Jesco Jones is the coolest dog in BMX. Orlando, FL

Jeff Purdy – Roof drop. Wilmington, DE

Explain Gateways. How did you come up with the name?

Gateways is a zine I put together consisting of digital and 35mm photos that were shot throughout the East Coast over the past four years. The title refers to how BMX has been a gateway into so many important aspects of my life. Through my bike, I have met lifelong friends, traveled to places I never would have thought to visit, and developed a passion for photography. I wanted to put this zine together because I have felt so inspired by all of the small publications produced by BMX photographers around the world. Lamenting the “death of print”, others have taken matters into their own hands to keep print relevant. I love that DIY attitude that so many BMXers share. ‘Gateways’ is my contribution to the cause of keeping print alive.

What do you shoot with typically?

I typically shoot with a Nikon D610 but I also have a ton of point and shoot and rangefinder film cameras. My go to film camera is my Yashika T4 and Canon Canonet rangefinder.

What kind of film do you like using?

Pretty much anything black and white that I can develop at my house. I mostly use Ilford Delta 100 or HP5 if I want to push the film a few stops.

The first BMX magazine I ever saw was BMX Plus, they had a copy in my elementary school's library for some reason. After that it was a steady diet of DIG, RideBMX and RideUK. DIG was always my favorite growing up because to me it seemed like it was less about the actual riding and more about the culture of riding which was more interesting to me. Recently my favorite zine has definitely been Dolecki's 'Maintain'. That zine is perfect, it has an amazing flow, well produced, and it seems like every issue gets better and better. I can look at those zines everyday and see something I didn't notice before. I can't say how much I love those publications!

What’s next for Gateways? Any future dreams?

I would love to do another zine in the near future. My friend Jeff Purdy and I have talked about doing something to go along with the video Jeff is working on, DNS 2, so hopefully that will work out. Otherwise, I'm just continuing to shoot, have fun, and see where things go!